The Ruby Suns

Fight Softly (Sub Pop)

By Emily Becker
Published: March 21st, 2010 | 7:00am

Fans of the worldly, electro pop that Ruby Suns' front man Ryan McPhun created on 2008’s Sea Lion (Lil’ Chief) may be surprised at how different the band’s third full-length, Fight Softly, sounds from its predecessors. While multiple sonic layers still engage the listener at any given moment, the music’s formula has changed. Fight Softly dials down the trippy island sounds in favor of R&B flourishes and the synth-driven pop of the early ‘80s.

Whereas Sea Lion’s multiple soundscapes moved in riotous harmony, Fight Softly often fails to keep its many working parts from collapsing into muddied disarray. McPhun’s vocals are front and center in the mix — and sometimes his falsetto vocals clash with the backing tracks (“Mingus and Pike”), while at other times his voice sounds like an anonymous British New Romantic–era singer who hijacked an Animal Collective B-side (see “Cinco,” and “Closet Astrologer”).

Fight Softly’s best moments come when McPhun lets the rhythm guide his songs. “Dusty Fruit” begins with a hooky synth riff that is followed by complex percussion, which he then punctuates with breaks that elevate (rather than disrupt) the song’s flow. “Haunted House” offers sheets of rhythm built from multiple pulsing synth lines. When McPhun attends to his songs’ structure, it can pay great dividends: Even though a song is but four minutes long it might still pass through two or three distinct phases (“How Kids Fail”). The record ends with two tracks, “Two Humans” and “Olympics on Pot,” that are slower in tempo. Creating a little more space in the track actually gives the listener room to appreciate the complexity that McPhun packs into each song.

McPhun seems determined to push himself to change, even if it rankles his fans a bit, but he deserves credit for embarking in a new direction rather than resting on his past successes. If this pattern holds, then the Ruby Suns next outing again offers the hope that it will be better than the last.

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